'Open' CNC project results put into practice
1 min read
The results of a European CNC research project are being incorporated by Italy’s Fidia and will support delivery of novel controls at lower cost, it is claimed.
The European Commission Information Society Technologies-funded OCEAN project, which completed its work last year, defined a new standard for the development of software modules based on a common communications protocol with and between modules. Importantly, the intellectual property within each module is protected.
“Before, you got a machine that could perform one process with a complete software system and if you wanted to change the process you had to change all the software,” says Fabrizio Meo, OCEAN project coordinator and research manager with CNC milling machine and control maker Fidia. But now it will be possible to customise an existing machine control to deliver different behaviour without such large changes.
Since the project ended last year Fidia has deployed the new standards in another European Commission-funded project, NEXT, which is studying next-generation production systems. Mr Meo believes it will slowly gain ground among other manufacturers. “There were four industrial partners in the project and they are all using this system. I think as other companies see the flexibility and advantages they'll start using it too,” he concludes.
Other control makers involved were Spain’s Fagor and Italy’s Osai. Machine tool makers Homag, Germany and Goratu of Spain also took part.
